THENS, Greece &#8212 More wildfires broke out and others rekindled Tuesday as anger rose over the government’s handling of catastrophic blazes that have laid waste to the Greek countryside and killed at least 64 people.

The fires are dominating political debate ahead of elections set for Sept. 16. Criticism that the government failed to respond quickly enough – and its suggestions that the fires resulted from an organized attack – could hurt Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined in battling the fires that broke out Thursday and burned nearly 500,000 acres in the first three days, leaving a landscape of blackened tree trunks, gutted houses and dead livestock.

Adding to the unease, a magnitude-5 earthquake shook the fire-ravaged south, panicking residents although there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.From the northern border with Albania to the southern island of Crete, fires have ravaged expanses of forest and farmland.

The devastation has infuriated Greeks, who already had been stunned by deadly forest fires in June and July and are complaining of an inadequate effort by the conservative government to confront the latest disaster.

The Sept. 16 ballot will be “the elections of rage,” the Athens newspaper To Vima said in a front-page headline.

The government’s suggestions that the fires were the result of an organized plan of arson caused confusion and anger.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras implied Sunday that a deliberate plan was in motion.

“We can say that this truly constitutes an asymmetric threat,” he said without offering any specifics. He said the Secret Service and anti-terrorism squad had joined police in investigating the blazes.

Karamanlis also implied arson was to blame, saying Saturday it could not be coincidence that so many fires broke out simultaneously in different areas.

Socialist party spokesman Yiannis Ragoussis accused the government of “trying to create a Sept. 11 type of climate” by implying Greece was facing a terrorist threat. “It is in fact a communications strategy” for election day, he said.